Culture and Cuisine Abound at Royal Oak’s Arts, Beats, and Eats Festival
(Chelsea Bossert, Sept. 6, 2024)
Royal Oak, MI – The opening day of Royal Oak’s own Arts, Beats and Beats festival kicked off on Friday, Aug. 30. The four-day spanning event was mainly sponsored by Soaring Eagle Casino and Resorts, along with Flagstar Bank. Other sponsors included: Bud Light, Jim Beam, Hornitos, Baker College, Michigan Lottery, Oakland Community College, House of Dank, the Detroit Institute of Arts and Corewell Health.
The event primarily took place on Washington Ave. between Second and Seventh streets. Some side areas near the railroad tracks also housed crafting tables, extra food booths, entrances and exits as well as the House of Dank and Jim Beam National Stage.
The opening kick-off day took place form 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. — during 90 degree, scorching heat. Weather throughout the rest of the weekend was sunny with partial clouds. Despite the conditions, thousands of people flocked to Royal Oak during the opening day of Arts, Beats and Eats to partake in the festivities.
Here are some of the highlights:
Arts:
Hosted by Corewell Health, the Juried Art Fair section of the festival took place on Fifth through Seventh Streets on Washington Ave.
Over 100 booths with fine art, mixed media, ceramics, metals, illustration, photography and more were at the fair. For some, the Art Fair is an opportunity to promote their business or even their way of life.
“Michigan truly has a beautiful sense of creativity and it’s so empowering to see… there’s so much confidence in Michigan.” A tattoo artist named Veronica Grace, from St. Clair Shores, Mich. said. “All these people, they put their lives into these tents. It’s crazy, it’s crazy and it’s beautiful to see.”
Grace is located on Jefferson Ave. where she helps run The Loop Hair and Tattoo studio. At Arts, Beats and Eats though, she does live tattoos — on the street inside a makeshift parlor.
“I was a regular artist here two years ago and I asked if I could just come and market my company — not do tattoos here — and they set it up, they did the whole entire thing, they paid for my booth — the whole thing — to have me come and tattoo live,” Grace said.
Grace charges $130/hr for all styles except realism, for which she charges $150/hr.
Amanda Irene, an artist based out of Auburn Hills who does fine art, drawing and illustrating said that she had a connection to this festival when she was a child.
“I remember coming out here when I was younger and I really enjoyed it so I was excited to be a part of it,” Irene said. “Everyone’s really supportive and nice and it’s wonderful,” Irene was one of the first booths when you walk in at the south entrance of the festival — booth number three. Her work is stunning, combining pastel, graphite, ink and other mixed media fine arts to create eye-catching pieces.
Irene works as a vet tech as her main line of work, she operates as a freelance artist on the side, selling pieces on her Etsy shop and her website, as well as coming to art fairs like Royal Oak Arts, Beats and Eats in the summer.
One other eye-catching artist is Hannah Wave Flower. She combines pencil and ink realism mixed with surreal background and painting techniques to deliver mesmerizing and stunning pieces of art. Flower operates out of Oregon six months out of the year and then travels to Pittsburgh, Penn. for the rest of the year to partake in east-coast art fairs.
“I don’t think I can help it, I’ve been creating ever since I’ve been a little girl,” Flower said. “Anything that came across my imagination was something to do and it just kind of became an obsession.”
Beats:
On the music and performance side of the festival, there were nine different stages that hosted performers from across all different genres — there was even a children’s stage hosted by the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The main event during the Beats portion of the festival was on Friday night, where iconic 70/80s bands, Cheap Trick and Tesla performed on the Jim Beam National Stage.
People came from all over Michigan and other states to hear tracks like “I Want You To Want Me” and “Surrender,” from Cheap Trick, live on stage.
Smaller stages hosted bands whose music spanned across a wide array of different genres including: Americana, RnB, Hip-Hop, Electronic, Acoustic, Country, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Alternative, Indie and more.
One of the most eclectic and sensational acts of Friday night was from an up-and-coming band called Moravian — named after the road in Macomb county.
Moravian consists of five members: guitarists Blake and Tomi, as well as drummer Rico, bassist Coby, and the most eccentric of them all, lead singer Alex Christ.
“We had a lot of fun with the crowd. This was the biggest crowd we’ve ever had on the biggest stage we ever had,” Christ said.
Moravain performed on the Bud Light Alternative stage, located near the carnival portion of the festival. Other up-and-coming acts on the stage over the Labor Day weekend included: Jon Paul Wallace, Ladyship Warship and Killer Diller.
Eats:
Many tasty treats and savory snacks were found between Fourth and Seventh Street. Booths lining Washington included a diverse selection of drool-inducing dishes. Royal Oak mainstays including Fifth Avenue, 526 Main, Little Bros. Burgers, Benito’s Pizza and Noorjahan Cuisine were present at the event, serving up comfort food such as Sliders, Nachos, Samosas and hot pizza slices.
Name brand franchises like Famous Dave’s BBQ, Cinnabon, Wing Snob, and Island Noodles also made appearances.
Carnival food stands also popped up near the carnival and rides section of the festival past the Bud Light Alternative stage. Those who like elephant ears and deep fried Oreo’s could get their fill there.
The most unique options for food at the event were those who put a twist on already existing food tropes, such as Egg Roll Diva — a food business run by Belinda Beard — that serves homemade Egg Rolls filled with ingredients not normally found in egg rolls, such as Corned Beef, Southwestern Chicken, Crab and Cream Cheese and more.
According to her website, eggrolldiva.com, Beard started her business before the pandemic, catering locally.
“In May 2022, I quit my full-time job in Corporate America to run ‘EggRollDiva’ full-time. I haven’t looked back since!” the website says.
Food simply brings people together, and mixing that with art and music made for a great Arts, Beats and Eats experience.
Learn more about this annual tradition at http://artsbeatseats.com/.
